BS Poker hand rankings
There are 17 hands in BS Poker and 204 possible calls — every hand against every one of the 12 callable ranks. Here they are, lowest to highest.
| # | Hand | Cards | Wilds needed | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | High | 1 | — | A single card of the named rank. |
| 2 | Pair | 2 | — | Two cards of the named rank. |
| 3 | Triple | 3 | — | Three cards of the named rank. |
| 4 | Full House | 3 + 2 | — | Three of the named rank, plus a pair of any other rank. |
| 5 | Quad | 4 | — | Four cards of the named rank. |
| 6 | Evens | 4 + 2 | — | Four of the named rank, plus a pair of any other rank. |
| 7 | Fuller House | 4 + 3 | — | Four of the named rank, plus three of any other rank. |
| 8 | Five of a Kind | 5 | 1 | Five cards of the named rank — needs at least one wild. |
| 9 | Odds | 5 + 3 | 1 | Five of the named rank, plus three of any other rank. |
| 10 | Fullest House | 5 + 4 | 1 | Five of the named rank, plus four of any other rank. |
| 11 | Six of a Kind | 6 | 2 | Six cards of the named rank — needs at least two wilds. |
| 12 | Higher Evens | 6 + 4 | 2 | Six of the named rank, plus four of any other — the Evens family, one rung up. |
| 13 | Seven of a Kind | 7 | 3 | Seven cards of the named rank — needs at least three wilds. |
| 14 | Manor | 7 + 4 | 3 | Seven of the named rank, plus four of any other. The house outgrows itself. |
| 15 | Higher Odds | 7 + 5 | 4 | Seven of the named rank, plus five of any other — spends all four wilds. |
| 16 | Eight of a Kind | 8 | 4 | All four natural cards of the named rank, plus all four wilds. |
| 17 | Mansion | 8 + 4 | 4 | Eight of the named rank plus four of any other — twelve cards, every wild spent. Nothing beats a Mansion except a higher Mansion, if you are crazy enough. |
How to read a hand
Hands come in two kinds. Single-group hands are one rank repeated: Quad Aces is four Aces. Two-group hands add a second group of any other rank, and you only ever name the bigger group's rank. So Fuller House Aces means four Aces plus any three of another rank — the three can be Kings, Fives, anything, and you never have to say which.
Full House Aces
three Aces plus any two of another rank
Five Aces
Four natural Aces plus a wild 2 standing in as the fifth.
Why the order looks odd at first
Hands sort by their bigger group first, then by the smaller one. That puts every two-group hand between n of a kind and n+1 of a kind:
3 < 3+2 < 4 < 4+2 < 4+3 < 5 < 5+3 < 5+4 < 6 < 6+4 < 7 < 7+4 < 7+5 < 8 < 8+4
So a Full House beats a Triple but loses to a Quad. Higher Odds still loses to Eight of a Kind, because seven is less than eight. And within one hand, rank breaks the tie: Quad Aces beats Quad Kings, but the lowest Pair beats the highest single card.
The wild-card maths
Every 2 is wild and counts as any rank. A deck holds four natural copies of each rank and four wilds, so the biggest group possible is eight of a kind — four Aces plus all four twos.
That is also why Mansion is unbeatable. It needs twelve cards: eight of one rank (four natural, four wild) and four of another (all natural). There are no wilds left over, so no bigger hand can exist. Facing it, your only move is to call BS.
The same arithmetic is why 7+6 is not a hand: seven needs three wilds and six needs two, which is five wilds in a four-wild deck.
No straights, no flushes
Standard poker leans on suits and sequences. Neither survives a wild card that can become any rank at will, so BS Poker drops both. Only matching ranks count.
All 204 calls, in order
Every hand against every rank. The lowest call in the game is High Three; the highest is Mansion Aces.
High1 of a kind
A single card of the named rank.
- High Three
- High Four
- High Five
- High Six
- High Seven
- High Eight
- High Nine
- High Ten
- High Jack
- High Queen
- High King
- High Ace
Pair2 of a kind
Two cards of the named rank.
- Pair of Threes
- Pair of Fours
- Pair of Fives
- Pair of Sixes
- Pair of Sevens
- Pair of Eights
- Pair of Nines
- Pair of Tens
- Pair of Jacks
- Pair of Queens
- Pair of Kings
- Pair of Aces
Triple3 of a kind
Three cards of the named rank.
- Triple Threes
- Triple Fours
- Triple Fives
- Triple Sixes
- Triple Sevens
- Triple Eights
- Triple Nines
- Triple Tens
- Triple Jacks
- Triple Queens
- Triple Kings
- Triple Aces
Full House3 + 2
Three of the named rank, plus a pair of any other rank.
- Full House Threes
- Full House Fours
- Full House Fives
- Full House Sixes
- Full House Sevens
- Full House Eights
- Full House Nines
- Full House Tens
- Full House Jacks
- Full House Queens
- Full House Kings
- Full House Aces
Quad4 of a kind
Four cards of the named rank.
- Quad Threes
- Quad Fours
- Quad Fives
- Quad Sixes
- Quad Sevens
- Quad Eights
- Quad Nines
- Quad Tens
- Quad Jacks
- Quad Queens
- Quad Kings
- Quad Aces
Evens4 + 2
Four of the named rank, plus a pair of any other rank.
- Evens Threes
- Evens Fours
- Evens Fives
- Evens Sixes
- Evens Sevens
- Evens Eights
- Evens Nines
- Evens Tens
- Evens Jacks
- Evens Queens
- Evens Kings
- Evens Aces
Fuller House4 + 3
Four of the named rank, plus three of any other rank.
- Fuller House Threes
- Fuller House Fours
- Fuller House Fives
- Fuller House Sixes
- Fuller House Sevens
- Fuller House Eights
- Fuller House Nines
- Fuller House Tens
- Fuller House Jacks
- Fuller House Queens
- Fuller House Kings
- Fuller House Aces
Five of a Kind5 of a kind
Five cards of the named rank — needs at least one wild.
- Five Threes
- Five Fours
- Five Fives
- Five Sixes
- Five Sevens
- Five Eights
- Five Nines
- Five Tens
- Five Jacks
- Five Queens
- Five Kings
- Five Aces
Odds5 + 3
Five of the named rank, plus three of any other rank.
- Odds Threes
- Odds Fours
- Odds Fives
- Odds Sixes
- Odds Sevens
- Odds Eights
- Odds Nines
- Odds Tens
- Odds Jacks
- Odds Queens
- Odds Kings
- Odds Aces
Fullest House5 + 4
Five of the named rank, plus four of any other rank.
- Fullest House Threes
- Fullest House Fours
- Fullest House Fives
- Fullest House Sixes
- Fullest House Sevens
- Fullest House Eights
- Fullest House Nines
- Fullest House Tens
- Fullest House Jacks
- Fullest House Queens
- Fullest House Kings
- Fullest House Aces
Six of a Kind6 of a kind
Six cards of the named rank — needs at least two wilds.
- Six Threes
- Six Fours
- Six Fives
- Six Sixes
- Six Sevens
- Six Eights
- Six Nines
- Six Tens
- Six Jacks
- Six Queens
- Six Kings
- Six Aces
Higher Evens6 + 4
Six of the named rank, plus four of any other — the Evens family, one rung up.
- Higher Evens Threes
- Higher Evens Fours
- Higher Evens Fives
- Higher Evens Sixes
- Higher Evens Sevens
- Higher Evens Eights
- Higher Evens Nines
- Higher Evens Tens
- Higher Evens Jacks
- Higher Evens Queens
- Higher Evens Kings
- Higher Evens Aces
Seven of a Kind7 of a kind
Seven cards of the named rank — needs at least three wilds.
- Seven Threes
- Seven Fours
- Seven Fives
- Seven Sixes
- Seven Sevens
- Seven Eights
- Seven Nines
- Seven Tens
- Seven Jacks
- Seven Queens
- Seven Kings
- Seven Aces
Manor7 + 4
Seven of the named rank, plus four of any other. The house outgrows itself.
- Manor Threes
- Manor Fours
- Manor Fives
- Manor Sixes
- Manor Sevens
- Manor Eights
- Manor Nines
- Manor Tens
- Manor Jacks
- Manor Queens
- Manor Kings
- Manor Aces
Higher Odds7 + 5
Seven of the named rank, plus five of any other — spends all four wilds.
- Higher Odds Threes
- Higher Odds Fours
- Higher Odds Fives
- Higher Odds Sixes
- Higher Odds Sevens
- Higher Odds Eights
- Higher Odds Nines
- Higher Odds Tens
- Higher Odds Jacks
- Higher Odds Queens
- Higher Odds Kings
- Higher Odds Aces
Eight of a Kind8 of a kind
All four natural cards of the named rank, plus all four wilds.
- Eight Threes
- Eight Fours
- Eight Fives
- Eight Sixes
- Eight Sevens
- Eight Eights
- Eight Nines
- Eight Tens
- Eight Jacks
- Eight Queens
- Eight Kings
- Eight Aces
Mansion8 + 4
Eight of the named rank plus four of any other — twelve cards, every wild spent. Nothing beats a Mansion except a higher Mansion, if you are crazy enough.
- Mansion Threes
- Mansion Fours
- Mansion Fives
- Mansion Sixes
- Mansion Sevens
- Mansion Eights
- Mansion Nines
- Mansion Tens
- Mansion Jacks
- Mansion Queens
- Mansion Kings
- Mansion Aces
Know the ladder? Prove it.
Reading the chart is the easy part. Saying "Mansion Aces" with a single Four in your hand is the hard part.